Anthony Jacquin wrote:Thanks for posting Dark_Matter. I am surprised this clip did not create more comment. I had never seen this footage of Erickson before. It certainly beats the black and white clip.

Anthony

I was sort of hoping it would get more of a response as well. I think there is a lot to comment about because it raises a lot of questions. If we take everything the commentator's analysis suggests about Erickson's methods, then Erickson was truly a gifted therapist.

I've read a lot of critiques about Erickson's methods, often pointing out that he rarely seems to get the hypnotic phenomena he's suggesting from his client. For example, in this clip he appears to "fail" a number of times in getting arm catalepsy. Now, the commentator explains that these "failures" were actually on purpose in order to get a specific response later on, which indicates that his methods are not only strategic, but very precise.

But is it possible that he is not doing these things on purpose but is simply utilizing ANY response the client gives? i.e. "that's right, and as you sit there not responding to my suggestions, you'll find yourself going even deeper" lol I think you know what I mean.

Dark_Matter wrote:I've read a lot of critiques about Erickson's methods, often pointing out that he rarely seems to get the hypnotic phenomena he's suggesting from his client. For example, in this clip he appears to "fail" a number of times in getting arm catalepsy.

I often fail to get phenomena I am suggesting. And I often get phenomena I hadn't expected. That's because, in a therapy setting, I don't 'go' for a particular phenomena. I might make suggestions and see which ones are meaningful for the client.

The key concept, I believe, would be utilizing where the client is going, rather than forcing my desire or a particular phenomena upon them. (Having said that, in an impromptu setting, it's completely different. I think we know enough about Erickson to know that he could have got such phenomena if he had been that committed to it. After all, it's not usually all that difficult.)

Though it is no secret that the government has experimented with hypnosis, LSD, "mind-control", and so on, I think most of this stuff borders on conspiracy theory silliness. The whole MKULTRA is shrouded in misinformation, half-truths, and various other kinds of misdirection propaganda.

Here is my theory about conspiracy theories. I think they are manufactured by the very people they allege to be about. In his book, Get Anyone to do Anything , Dr. David J. Lieberman PHD explains an interesting technique for stopping a rumor in its path, even if it's true. Here is how it works. If you are confronted by someone about a rumor they heard about you, you simply admit to the rumor, and then expand it by tagging on a ridiculous piece of information that no one could possible believe. What happens is that people will tend to disregard the entire thing because they will generalize it all together.

I think a conspiracy theory works the same way. It's perfectly feasible that the government would want to learn new ways to gain compliance from civilians, but there is really no way to completely cover these things up. So instead you just allow the truth to be "discovered", but with that truth you add "facts" about hypnotized assassins, with full post-hypnotic amnesia of the event of course, and for extra measure be sure that some of your agents write some good books about CIA connections UFOs as well as some Reptilian stuff for good measure.

The only people who would believe any of this stuff are those who would pose absolutely no threat to the government whatsoever, while those who could potentially become problematic will tend disregard the entire thing...including the parts that are true. The use of critical thinking will help you make some reasonable assumptions, and they are usually so straight forward that there is hardly any need for "conspiracy" in the first place. Besides, power does what it wants, so why would they have to be so clandestine in the first place. Our real problems are much more mundane. Television, for example...